Burning Cold Hatred
by Yours truly - Pride
Summary: SasuHina. Hinata leaves Konoha not knowing what to do. However, she meets Sasuke who gives her life direction. Together they get stronger to exact their revenge on the society that rejected them. Set in the time in the manga after Sasuke vs Deidara. Chapter 4 up!
1. Chapter 1

**Heya there, this is my latest story. And sorry I might take a bit more while to update my first story, cause I'm thinking of a better storyline and I might wanna rewrite it, perhaps. Besides, I'm a sixteen-year old kid in a country where the education system and exams are bent on destroying everyone's brain cells – I don't have a choice. So I'm not really free 'til like the end of this year. **

**Do read, and I won't nag for reviews. But reviews are still appreciated, and I will try my best to fulfil your requests. **

**Thanks :) **

**It's a Sasuhina! **

**YAY Sasuhina FTW!**

**Hinata POV**

"Why does all this have to happen to me?"

"I know I'm weak but that's no reason to keep stepping all over me."

**Normal POV**

Being weak and timid, Hinata was under constant criticism from all sides. All her life, she had been looked down upon by her friends, her teachers, heck, even her own family!

Her father, Hiashi Hyuuga, was a proud man and considered Hinata a stain to his name. To him, she was nothing but a disobedient, weak, spineless smudge on his proud name. She was an unworthy heiress to the clan. He was personally ashamed of having her as a daughter. Hanabi would become heiress when she came of age. She was younger, but to Hiashi, _anyone_ would be better than Hinata.

Hanabi, Hinata's own sister of course loved her and would not give her up for anything in the world. If it weren't for Hanabi, god knows what Hiashi might have done to Hinata. Disown her, maybe? Nevertheless, Hinata felt tortured by her own feelings of incompetence and inadequacy. She was weaker than her _younger sister_.

Hinata didn't know what to do anymore. Her sensei, Kurenai had her own problems to deal with. She also had tried her best to train Hinata. But to no avail. Nobody could train Hinata when she had given up on herself.

Tsunade sympathised with Hinata, and even offered to train her personally just as she did Sakura. But oh well, Sakura's jealousy put an end to that. There was only so much that even a Hokage could do. Tsunade could not protect Hinata from the humiliation and hatred she was subject to outside her own office, and in the Hyuuga household.

Sakura was going through a mental struggle, and worry for Sasuke had clouded her mind ever since he had left the village to gain more power so that he could kill Itachi. There was a rumour that the former Team 7 members were destined to be the next generation of Legendary Sannin, having been trained by Sannin themselves. This had gotten to Sakura's head and she now looked at Hinata with contempt and disgust.

The only friends that Hinata had, were Tenten, Kiba, Shino, Lee and Neji. Tenten was definitely her best friend, but Hinata felt as though they were drifting apart, despite both their best efforts to hold on. Tenten was now a Jounin and Hinata was a mere Chuunin. The gap in their strengths was quite big, although Tenten always made a point to never judge Hinata based on these. Kiba was too noisy and Shino rarely spoke, yet both of them gave Hinata great comfort and she was immensely grateful to them. Although Lee rarely spoke to her of anything other than "youth", Hinata was grateful to him too that he at least respected her as a human and didn't avoid her as though she had a contagious disease. Neji had been decidedly nicer to Hinata, too and was acting more like a responsible cousin.

Still, her friends could do nothing to protect Hinata from the sufferings she was subjected to from her clan and the rest of the village. It hurt her so much. She felt alienated.

Even Naruto now looked down on her. Even though he tried very hard to be nice to her and to avoid hurting her feelings, there was the inescapable fact that she was weak.

_Weak_.

That was the word she heard at least a hundred times a day. It rang in her ears, every day, every hour, every minute, every second. It hurt.

Most of all, it hurt her that Naruto loved Sakura instead of her. It hurt her that Naruto would have shouted in her face if only he weren't afraid she would break into tears the next second.

Hinata's love for Naruto began to fade by the second. However, there were a few remnants remaining.

She stared into the dark waters of the lake that stretched out in front of her. The surface was smooth, but she could not see her own reflection. Usually the lake reflected her thoughts back at her. Reflected her feelings. But this time, it was as though the lake swallowed all her feelings.

Hinata decided, today was the day she would confess to Naruto. If he said yes, she would stay and face every challenge the world threw at her, with him by her side. She would try her best to be his ideal girl.

If he said no…she would leave the village and…

She had no idea what she would do then. She had nothing to do. No reason to live if that happened. She could die for all she cared, in fact that would have saved her from the sufferings of the world.

…..

…

…

….

She found Naruto sitting in a bar, drunk as hell. But she didn't know he had just been rejected by Sakura, yet again. He was just drinking away his sorrows.

To the rest of the world, Naruto called Sasuke a friend. His best friend.

But inside, he was cursing Sasuke. He cursed Sasuke for stealing Sakura away from her. When Sasuke was here, he always competed with Naruto for everything and never acknowledged him. Even when he was gone, he was causing problems. Sakura kept spurning Naruto in hopes that Sasuke would come back and accept her.

This only served to make Hinata feel like an animal at the bottom of a food chain. She loved Naruto, who in turn loved Sakura, who in turn loved Sasuke.

She steeled herself to confess to Naruto and face the moment that would decide the course of her life.

…..

…

…

….

**After the confession**

"Don't you dare go crying on me! Not as though I haven't faced enough troubles for today! Stupid women and their screwed up love affairs….There's no way I could love a weakling like you! How about you go and try to get stronger, then perhaps I would consider you," Naruto shouted scornfully at Hinata. He then slurred something in a drunk whisper that Hinata couldn't hear. All she knew was that it probably contained the word "weak".

All the other people in the bar now turned their heads to stare at the duo. Almost all of them had smirks on their faces.

Hinata couldn't stop the tears now. The tears flowed freely.

That was how she ended up less than an hour later, racing through the trees, not caring where she went as long as she got as far away as possible from Naruto and that horrible village.

"Selfish Naruto! Even if I did decide to live and get stronger I wouldn't go back to a person like him who looks for superficial looks in a woman!" she promised herself.

All of a sudden, she saw a bright light in the distance ahead of her, slightly to the right. Curiosity got a hold of her and her tears momentarily stopped flowing. A giant – _thing_ – landed and formed a huge crater. The impact sent Hinata's tiny body flying back.

Her eyes widened in the surprise and shock of seeing _that_ person here, of all the people she could have met.

**Cliffhanger! Although y'all probably have an idea who that ****_person_**** is anyway, right? **

**Sorry for showing Naruto in a bad light, but I never really liked him, although I don't hate him too much. I just had to create a situation for Hinata to leave Konoha, and he was the best choice. **

**Till we meet again…**

**Yours truly, Pride. **


	2. Sasuke vs Deidara

**I'm baaaaccckkk! Just being random, but I recommend that y'all watch Charlie the Unicorn. Or Happy Tree Friends. I know I'll get judged badly for this, but its totally worth it. **

**Chapter 2 **

A huge explosion shook the whole place. He jumped far away from the spot of the large explosion. Sasuke then looked up, annoyed at Deidara.

"Tch. Stupid coward, flying out of reach."

Sasuke allowed his curse mark to take over his body. He needed to end this as soon as possible without using up too much power. To Sasuke, Deidara was just another benchmark for him to test his strength. He needed to prove to Itachi that he wasn't worthless. Most of all, he needed to prove to himself that he wasn't worthless.

Wings sprouted out of Sasuke's back. His face darkened and there was a cross-shaped mark on his face. He leapt up, like a leopard pouncing at its prey, except this leopard could fly. Deidara's eyes widened in surprise, and although he tried not to show it, fear. Sasuke drew his Nagashi sword and sliced through the air at the airborne clay bird.

His aim struck true. The bird's wing got cut off. Sasuke immediately, in a split second's interval, made several hand seals and aimed his fireball jutsu at the exposed moist clay of the falling clay bird. Deidara managed to jump off his mount on time to avoid immediate death. The fireball made contact with the bird, making it explode in a shower of flames. The forced of the explosion sent Deidara crashing into the forest below.

"YOU DAMNED UCHIHA BRAT! DESTROYING MY PRECIOUS BIRDIE! AND BURNING MY PRECIOUS HAIR!" he yelled. "_oh my precious long, blonde hair…"_

He immediately started making bombs at an insane rate. All at once Sasuke had a thousand clay bombs flying in his direction. He shielded himself with his wings and ran electricity through his body to diffuse the bombs, being the genius that he was. However, the multitude of explosions sent even the Uchiha whirling away.

But by this point, Sasuke had lost most of his patience.

"You tricky bastard, have a taste of your own medicine!" he thought to himself.

Sasuke, using the hand seals he had copied earlier, made several perfect copies of Deidara's bombs, except that they were made with fire, not with dust like Deidara's. He hurled them all at his opponent, and they flew at tremendous speed. Deidara stared open-mouthed ("Those cursed eyes!"), but still managed to dodge in time, escaping intact with just his left shoulder injured.

However, Sasuke apparently had only intended it as a diversion for him to get in close range. From his analysis of his opponent, he found that Deidara was better at long-range combat. Sasuke intended to get closer and defeat him in hand-to-hand combat.

He made a fierce swipe with flame-enhanced fists. He had developed a similar technique to Chidori, where he gathers fire-type chakra in his fists to enhance the power of his attack. However, it had a lower precision. _(A.N.: I have no idea how to name this technique without sounding stupid. I'm not Japanese, so that should explain it. So please forgive me if the overall effect sucks T.T)_ Deidara took the attack square in the chest, landing at least hundred metres away.

He managed to stand up, coughing blood. Fury blazing in his eyes, Deidara used one of his final resorts, a large clone of himself, something he personally called his "second-best work of art". The explosive particles from the clone entered Sasuke's bloodstream and the rest of his body. Sasuke diffused the particles in his body using all his mental concentration, and in doing so failed to notice the shadow that passed over Deidara's face.

The giant dust clone exploded, Deidara protected himself with anti-explosive clay he specially made for this purpose. Sasuke felt as though his skin were being ripped off him. He reactivated his curse seal to take the brunt of the attack, and put up a wall of fire and lightning in front of him to burn away any large explosive particles or diffuse them.

Deidara humoured himself with maniacal laughter and continuous exclamations of "True art will always win!". However, his euphoria was short-lived as Sasuke emerged from the rubble, his body largely intact save for a few deep cuts. His curse seal had speeded up the process of healing.

More importantly, his eyes were now blood-red in colour, three black tomoes spinning like crazy around a central black tomoe. Sasuke was mad. And so was the sharingan. What's worse, his curse seal was still activated. Curse seal plus sharingan, eh? Unique, but undoubtedly powerful combination.

This thought seemed to run through Deidara's head as he began to shake in fear and his knees begin to buckle.

"Damnit, I can't be afraid of this little brat! I'll…I'll show him not to mess with adults!"

However, the next moment he collapsed to the ground in a cold sweat under a genjutsu Sasuke placed on him. Deidara managed to see through the genjutsu in a few seconds, though and recovered pretty quickly.

"Screw you all, Uchiha! You and your eyes! First Itachi, now you! But I'll have to thank that bastard Itachi later, huh? I might've died if only I hadn't gotten used to Itachi's genjutsu."

Deidara got to his feet, but the few seconds' gap that he took to recover from the genjutsu was all Sasuke needed to launch a fireball at Deidara, causing him to become badly beaten up. As Sasuke launched himself to run Deidara through with Chidori, a hand suddenly grabbed his and threw him a short distance away. Sasuke's Chidori plunged into the ground and put out.

He tilted his head upwards to see small fishlike eyes staring back at him and two rows of sharp, gleaming teeth shining in the sunlight. _Kisame_.

Samehada came crashing down on him, but Sasuke disappeared in a flash. _Not for nothing do I have a sharingan, sharkface. Still, this is gonna be a hell of a fight_, he thought.

The two clashed with flashes of lightning, blasts of fire and explosions of water everywhere. Deidara watched, and his frustration grew.

"I'M NOT WEAK, DAMNIT! GET YOUR ASS LOST, KISAME! I DON'T NEED YOUR STINKIN' HELP! SO STOP LOOKING DOWN ON ME, YOU…" Words could no longer express his rage.

"WITNESS MY GREATEST WORK OF ART EVER, PUNY IDIOTS! SELF DESTRUCTION!" He pulled at a stitch on his chest and a giant mouth was revealed. Deidara put lots of explosive clay and waited for his art to happen. He then let out a peal of maniacal laughter.

"Deidara, what are you thinking?! Your duties to Akatsuki are far more important than your hatred towards the sharingan!"

"SHUT UP KISAME! I DON'T CARE IF I DIE, I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE THERE, I DON'T CARE IF YOU DIE WITH ME! JUST DIEDIEDIEDIEDIEEEE!"

Suddenly, his whole body exploded and the cloud of smoke rose up high into the skies and was seen from more than fifty kilometres away.

Kisame used all his chakra to create a very thick shield and shielded himself from the impact of the explosion.

Sasuke summoned a giant snake and used it to protect himself while he used Kamui to transport his summoning and himself to a safer place.

(_A.N.: No its not Manda. Manda will not die so early, he will have a teeny weeny bit important role later in the story.  
Manda:TEENY WEENY?! YOU MEAN TO SAY YOU WILL SUMMON ME IN THE FUTURE FOR SOME INSIGNIFICANT PART?! GUESS WHAT? I'M HUNGRY.  
Pride:NONONONONOOOOO AUUUUUGHHHHHHH!_)

With a blinding flash of light, he ended up somewhere in a dense forest, suspended in mid-air. Then he came crashing down onto the ground, causing a small crater to form beneath him.

"_Where is this place? Gotta go and find the rest of Hebi first…_" he passed out due to low levels of chakra. Besides, he was exhausted. Sleep comes first. Anything else will have to wait 'til tomorrow.

**Chapter 2 ends here. Not really a cliffhanger, their two paths are finally converging. Read, review if you like, and I have to apologise because I might not always be able to fulfil your requests. Nevertheless, thank you for your appreciation, supporters. It means a lot to me. Really. **

**To dear readers, yes Sasuke WILL train Hinata :D**

**Some news for y'all, other than Sasuke and Hinata, the rest of Team Hebi (later Team Taka) will also get stronger, that includes Juugo, Suigetsu and Karin. And maaayyyybeeee a few more members? Hm? **

**Till we meet again…**

**Yours truly, Pride. **


	3. Hebi

**I'm back again! *sniff* I'm so proud of myself, I'm crying tears of happiness right now! I diligently update this fanfic as regularly as I can even though I have exams coming up… What's that? I should study? Uhhhhh I dunno what to say to that 'cause its so true…**

**Chapter 3**

"_Uhhhhh… That stupid psychopathic blonde retard…Wait what?! Shit, I passed out!"_

Sasuke jolted up from the cold rock floor and stared up at the rock and limestone deposits, and flicked his tongue at the cold air. He was becoming like a snake now. Stupid Orochimaru. Sasuke could keep him well under control within himself, but he still had a weeny bit of respect for his former sensei. Just as he respected Kakashi. As such, he was a bit influenced by Orochimaru. Ever heard of the saying, "like sensei, like student"? No? Never mind, now you have.

Sasuke looked down at his body. Somebody had taken off his shirt. Cleaned and healed all of his wounds. _A medic ninja, eh?_ However, the intrusion of his personal space nagged at him from inside. _If it was Karin, she would have a lifetime to pay… I'll personally make sure she never dares to say my name again…_

Sasuke felt better, but still slightly exhausted from overuse of the curse seal, especially in its final stage. The explosions too, had left him sore and tired.

He felt the presence of another person outside the cave, but there was no killing intent coming. Besides, he had detected faint traces of lavender and salt in the air. _Must have been a girl. Seems like she has been crying for some time now._

He walked out of the cave, his legs feeling numb. The moonlight shined brightly in the clear, dark sky. He saw a girl sitting nearby. _Hyuga_. _Hinata Hyuga_. She was sitting on the cool grass, quietly sniffing and sobbing to herself. He sat down next to her. She hadn't noticed him yet, and he didn't bother to mask his presence.

Hinata jumped slightly when she felt his chakra, and hurriedly wiped away her tears, accidentally smearing it all over her face.

"Why are you crying?" an impassive voice asked her. It wasn't cold or hurtful, but neither was it warm and comforting. "N-n-nothing, Uchiha-san…" was the meek reply.

He didn't disturb her any further. They both sat in silence, watching the moon, as though it would allay all their fears and worries. Sasuke sat in silence, enjoying the Karin-free moment. And Suigetsu-free.

Meanwhile, Hinata replayed the memories in her mind. It hurt her. It stung her. It almost ripped her heart out of her chest. And Naruto… Hinata was so hurt, she thought even Sasuke wouldn't be able to make her feel so much pain even if he were to be as mean as possible to her.

Suddenly she couldn't take it anymore. The tears flowed down her pale cheeks. Sasuke groaned.

_Mean Sasuke: Ugh don't flood the place. Please. _

_Nice Sasuke: Don't be so mean. She's not a friggin fangirl. She doesn't deserve it. _

_Mean Sasuke: But I said please…_

_Nice Sasuke: Shut up. Be nice for once. _

"Spill it out. You'll feel better." Sasuke told her. Hinata stared at Sasuke with wide, tear-filled eyes. She didn't expect the cold-hearted Uchiha to be so understanding.

Without hesitating she poured out her feelings, not caring that she had never spoken to this raven haired young man before, that she rarely even knew him. Suddenly, she hugged him, seeking some sort of comfort. In Konoha, it was either Hanabi or Tenten that she turned to for comfort and consolation. But here…she was all alone.

Desperately she clutched at Sasuke. As for Sasuke? He was totally, entirely, 100 % bewildered. He hadn't expected her to be suffering so desperately and helplessly. He felt all her pain and suffering course through him. He took it, hoping it would make her feel better. Sasuke didn't flinch though at the multitude of emotions she was going through. Sadness, grief, pain, disappointment, confusion, desperation, … anger and hatred? Sasuke had never known that the Hyuga heiress was even capable of feeling anger or hatred. Something must have really upset her to drive her to this extent. Sasuke had a feeling it had something to do with a blonde, whiskered, loud mouthed and annoying dobe. He hugged Hinata back reassuringly.

Hinata let go and suddenly turned so red Sasuke was afraid her face would catch fire. She awkwardly pointed at Sasuke's chest and he noticed he was shirtless.

"Well, its not my fault someone took off my shirt while I was knocked out and now I don't know where it is," he said, raising an eyebrow. "I-i-its in t-the cave o-o-over there…just b-behind t-that rock…" she managed to stutter out.

Once he had his shirt on, he came back and coaxed Hinata to confide in him.

"_Ugh, I'm getting too soft. I'm an avenger, dammit. NOT a softie counsellor. Stupid woman. Stupid dobe. Stupid Suigetsu. Wait, what does Suigetsu have to do with this? Nevermind, I blame him anyway._"

Once Hinata had told him her story, Sasuke felt a sudden anger. What was with that village and treating people like shit?! Some day, they were going to regret it. And he was going to relish that moment.

He turned towards Hinata. "You're pathetic, Hyuuga. Just because a stupid foxface rejected you, you're crying your eyes out?! He's not worth it, for goodness' sake!"

"N-no need to tell me I'm w-w-weak, Uchiha-san. I h-hear that e-e-enough times every day to know that I'm weak and w-worthless and good-for-nothing."

"Do not jump to conclusions," he said, surprisingly calm. "I never said you were weak. What you have gone through is not easy. If it were any other common person, he or she would have committed suicide a long time ago."

"The very fact that you're standing here alive is proof enough that you are not weak. You didn't even need to drink away your troubles like that stupid baka. And, you are definitely not worthless or good-for-nothing. I think I would have died of chakra depletion by now if you hadn't saved and healed me."

"Besides, you're not weak. Its just that you have convinced yourself that and stopped working to prove others wrong. The other idiots in Konoha as well, they have nothing better to do than to judge others. They are not exactly strong themselves. Sakura and Naruto can pretend they're strong, but they're nothing compared to the Hokage. The Hokage is nothing compared to some people, like Orochimaru. Orochimaru is weaker than others, such as Itachi and the other members of Akatsuki." He said the last part with some bitterness in his voice that he couldn't hide.

"The entire shinobi world is interlinked in a never ending sort of food chain. There will always be people above you who can devour you. No one is weak unless they stop believing in themselves. Do you want to be one of them?"

"All I want you to realise is that there is no use in thinking you're weak. If the rest of the village told you you're weak, get stronger! Prove them wrong and put them to shame! If they rejected you and caused you pain, then return the pain tenfold!" At this point Sasuke's sharingan blazed to life. He was surprised at the passion with which he had delivered his speech, and pissed at himself for showing this side of him that he had never shown anyone ever since the annihilation of the Uchiha clan. However, he was inexplicably drawn to the Hyuuga. She was kind, yet strong and had much potential. Sasuke also though she was a little pretty. Only a teeny weeny bit, so don't get any ideas. Also, there was the fact that she was not a fangirl.

Hinata was not in the least bit affected by the sight of the sharingan. She was more shocked by the fact that the Uchiha had such a soft, understanding side to him. It was as though unicorns started eating potatoes. As though the moon jumped over a cow. As though llamas started dancing like bears. As though, as though, as… (Sasuke: Shut up before I set Manda on you again)

( Nevermind me I'm bad at making analogies. -.-")

Hinata would have ran up to Sasuke and hugged him again if not for the fact that she would be giving him a bad impression. For the first time, she felt as though she had a true friend who truly understood how she felt. Tenten, Hanabi, and Kiba (Not Neji and Shino, they were always stone-faced) had always tried to cheer her up when she had gotten into trouble with her father or anyone else, but none of them managed to make her feel as confident of herself as Sasuke did. None of them told her she was not weak. The way they spoke was as though they agreed she was weak, except that they always consoled her by saying she would one day get stronger. One day. Some day. When?

Sasuke then offered her a hand.

"Join Hebi. We have Konoha as a common enemy. I am willing to train you and together we can get stronger. I will introduce you to the other members, if you're interested to join us on our journey to power, that is."

Hinata hesitated a little, but in the end took his hand.

"I will, if Uchiha-san is willing to be my friend," she said without stuttering.

Sasuke smiled, a sight that almost made her insides turn to goo. She was not stuttering. Besides, no one had ever asked to be his friend. All those fangirls only asked him to go out with them, none of them had ever thought that all he wanted was a friend, nothing more, nothing less. Even Naruto was just a self-proclaimed best friend of Sasuke. Sasuke had never called anyone a friend…until now. He nodded, smiling serenely.

"Call me Sasuke. Not Uchiha-san. No suffixes."

"Then you should call me Hinata too. Not Hyuga," she said, returning the smile.

"SASUKEEE-KUNNNNN WHERE ARE YOUUUU?"

_Karin. _

The trio saw Sasuke and Hinata. Smiling. Sasuke a.k.a stonefaced, dangerous Uchiha. Smiling. Suigetsu couldn't believe what he was seeing. He was speechless.

Juugo had a faint smile on. "You would be a great addition to the team if you managed to make Sasuke smile."

Karin was simply furious.

**Well, there you go. Chapter 3 done. A lil' bit of fluff. Hope you're not allergic to fluffy stuff, cause I'm pretty sure I know some people who are allergic to plushies and the sort. Ugh what am I talking … Nevermind, read and enjoy. Review if ya feel like it. Hope I'll be free to update again soon. Adios, and best wishes (for anything and everything). **

**Till we meet again… **

**Yours truly, Pride. **


	4. Progress

**First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks to AnimeRocks793 and StopTeasing for voluntarily reviewing regularly. I owe it to you for making me review every single fanfic I read. I never used to review any of the fanfics I have read but now I make it a point to review. And no flames. Thanks guys! (Don't take me wrong, I'm not sexist). **

**Disclaimer (I forgot to put this in the other chapters): I don't own Naruto, but no regrets, I think Masashi Kishimoto did a far better job than I could have ever done. Besides, he has set a great foundation for me to build my stories on. **

**Chapter 4: Progress**

A giant hand came crashing down on her. With a silent "poof", she disappeared, leaving a log where the giant hand smashed. Juugo turned around and whirled his curse-marked giant hand in her direction. She took this opportunity to use the gentle fist and cut off his cursed seal temporarily. She then formed a flurry of hand seals.

A huge water dragon lunged at Juugo. He formed a shield made of earthen birds to minimise the damage taken from the dragon. However, the attack was too strong and he was forced to block with his bare hands. In less than a second, she was behind him, throwing an explosive kunai at his exposed back. Juugo took the attack straight on and used his opportunity to attack his opponent with an earthen wolf. She didn't see that coming, and earned herself some bite marks on her forearm.

Unfortunately for her, the wolf's teeth were coated with a paralysing agent. She dropped to her knees, panting and clutching at her forearm. Her body seized up and she was unable to move. In a last ditch attempt, she conjured up another water dragon and attacked Juugo. The wind was knocked out of him and he dropped to the ground, drained of all energy.

"I guess this is a draw, huh?"

"You've gotten stronger, Hina-san. Sasuke must be a great sensei for you to make such progress in such as short time," Juugo replied, traces of a smile forming on his face. He was simply too tired to even move his facial muscles. _Man, this girl really gave me a good run for my money_.

"Thank you, Juugo-nii. Yes indeed, Sasuke is a good teacher. Demanding, but good. I can't thank him enough for my confidence and strength. And he's definitely strong, no doubt about that. I bet he can bet Uzumaki hands down." Hinata responded, half-exhausted and half-content from the fight they just had.

A few metres from them, Karin was flopped face down on the ground, Suigetsu standing above her with a massive sword at her neck.

"Hmph, I bet **_I_**can beat Hyuuga. You're just weak, Juugo." Karin said shamelessly.

Identical sweatdrops rolled down Juugo's, Hinata's and Suigetsu's faces. Only one thought ran through all of their minds: She's so thick-skinned.

"Shut it. You can't even beat me, how do you expect to beat Juugo or Hinata?" Suigetsu responded, irritated.

Suddenly, a huge chakra presence suffocated them, or to be more precise, _two_ chakra presences.

Sasuke and Kabuto walked to each of them, and gave them a little of their own chakra for them to recover.

"SASUKE-KUNN!". Yep, you guessed it right. Karin was running towards Sasuke, ready to glomp him. But a small yet well-built figure beat her to it. Hinata latched herself tightly onto Sasuke, throwing her arms around him.

Sasuke stepped back slightly out of surprise. He smiled a rare, hardly noticeable smile at Hinata. No one else noticed it, but Hinata did. She always noticed when Sasuke smiled because she thought it was special, especially when he smiled just for her. A light pink dusted her cheeks.

"You're back already. I thought it would take you longer to train."

"Ouch, I'm that weak? That hurt my feelings, you know." Sasuke smirked.

"Oh, look, stoneface just made a joke." Hinata responded with a larger smirk.

"Tch. That stupid White Snake ran us ragged." Sasuke grumbled.

"Can't deny that. Never thought it would be so troublesome to become a Sage, huh?" Kabuto chipped in.

"Whoa, both of you are snake sages now? Does that mean you both are equally strong now?" Suigetsu asked, excited that there was finally someone to match the Uchiha's strength.

"Nah, not yet. Number one, he has the sharingan. Number two, he is the lightning-type while I am the water-type. Number three, I was originally supposed to be a medic ninja, so there's only so far I can go as a combat specialist." Kabuto responded.

"Care to show us how strong you've gotten?" Juugo asked.

(Karin was fuming, since everyone else was talking to each other as though she were invisible.)

And they ended up team-sparring against each other, Sasuke and Kabuto on one side against the rest of Hebi.

Karin crouched at the back of the group, since she was the medic. Suigetsu was a decoy at the frontlines, Juugo was the mass-destruction-specialist (perfectly understandable) and Hinata was the stealth specialist.

Sasuke and Kabuto exchanged looks, and a slight shiver ran down Hinata's spine. Two pairs of pupils narrowed into slits as Sasuke and Kabuto activated snake sage mode. They intended to finish this in five minutes flat.

With grace unexpected of males, both Sasuke and Kabuto attacked in perfectly coordinated strikes and swipes. Sasuke created a huge halberd out of lightning and brought it down on Juugo. Juugo dodged in time but he realised a bit too late that the attack was never meant to hit him. The sonicboom and vibrations from the attack sent jolts of pain up Juugo and Hinata's legs all the way to their shoulders. Suigetsu, being water, was instantly electrocuted, but he managed to land a solid kick at Sasuke before he passed out, giving Juugo and Hinata time to recover before Sasuke struck again.

Meanwhile, Kabuto snuck up on Karin and drained her of most of her chakra. Karin instantly sent a hundred kunais his way. One stabbed Kabuto in the shoulder and the other left a bleeding cut on his cheek that stung. _Nevermind, she's gonna collapse anyway, once I'm done with her_, Kabuto thought. He healed himself using the immense chakra that his sage mode rewarded him with. But what he was not expecting was for Karin to deliver a quick, precise, wind-enhanced blow to his chest. Soon after, Karin dropped unconscious due to lack of chakra.

Kabuto redirected her absorbed chakra at Hinata, who did not see it coming. She used a water shield to block the attack, but Sasuke fired a fireball jutsu at her back. Juugo jumped in front of the girl he considered a sister, taking the full brunt of the attack and collapsing. Immediately, Sasuke fired a lightning cannon at Hinata and Kabuto simultaneously used a water cannon on her. Hinata's water shield, be strong as it may, was unable to stand the force of the two powerful attacks against it. Hinata was driven to the ground and Sasuke immobilised her with a small jolt of electricity.

_Tch. We took six minutes and thirty-seven seconds. They've gotten stronger than we had expected. _

"Not bad, if we all keep up this level of progress we can easily destroy Akatsuki. And even better, I'm ninety-nine percent sure none of us was at full power just now, not even Karin," said Kabuto. (Karin looked up from her spot on the ground to scowl at Kabuto)

"And kill Itachi," Sasuke added.

Hinata, who had recovered, sensed the large amounts of killing intent flowing from Sasuke, and placed a reassuring hand on his arm.

"You're right, Hinata. I shouldn't lose my calm so easily. Come, we still have to train a little more. Each one of us has to be at least on the same level as Akatsuki." Sasuke let his tense muscles relax.

"Oh, and by the way, Kabuto and I have been working on one of our dear sensei's jutsus."

"And what would that be?"

"Edo Tensei. It was originally an impure world resurrection, but I'd say Kabuto and I are quite close to developing a pure world resurrection technique."

Hinata smirked, a full out smirk. _Damn, Sasuke's rubbing off on me_.

"We're on our way to becoming invincible." Suigetsu grinned.

The whole of team Hebi, tired and exhausted as they might be, smiled at each other in contentment. They were starting to see the results of their hardwork, and were dangerously close to all their goals.

**Finally, Chapter 4 is over! It's a little longer than the previous ones, but I shall try to make my future chapters even longer. Sorry, this one lacked humour, but let's just say I ran dry. Not really in the mood to come up with creative sparks, but still, I'm glad the plot's going in the right direction. I said there would be new additions to Hebi, didn't I? :P And by the way, I think you can safely expect more. **

**Pride: Sasuke, I know you're strong and all, but don't be a retard and fight Itachi yet okay. Your thoughts are all messed up by loooveeee…Fight Itachi now and you'll be like a stupid donkey up against a lion. **

**Sasuke: Shut up. I am not lovestruck and I am DEFINITELY NOT A DONKEY, DAMMIT. Say that one more time and I swear I will make Karin castrate you with one of Kabuto's rusty scalpels. **

**Pride: *Gulp* **

***sighs* I'm the writer and I don't even have power over these impudent brats.**

**Sasuke, Hinata, Suigetsu, Kabuto and Karin: **

**WHAT DID YOU SAY?!**

**Juugo: **K I L L

**Pride: NONONONO NOTHING AAAAAHHHHHH!**

**Till we meet again…**

**Yours truly, Pride.**


	5. Clash

**Heya there, I'm back with the latest instalment of Burning Cold Hatred! **

**AnimeRocks793: No problem haha. You supported me a lot through this indirectly, so you deserved special mention. **

**StopTeasing: Hmmm…IDK about not allying Kabuto with Hebi, 'cause I wanted to let Hinata have someone train her in medical ninjutsu. :) But I can always get rid of him somehow after that. And I researched about Senjutsu, apparently it only raises the power of taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu and increases their chakra reserves. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters. **

**That reminds me. When I read the latest chapter of Naruto, I was a little upset that Naruto could use Senjutsu and Sasuke was of no use. I felt Naruto was a little overpowered and that Sasuke definitely can't be weaker. But fret not, I did a bit of digging and found out that Sasuke fans still have hope! The curse seal developed by Orochimaru makes use of Senjutsu, which is why Kabuto was able to make use of it in his Snake sage mode in the manga (I'm too lazy to explain further -**w**-). So, yep you're right Sasuke is still on par with Naruto, if not better. And, Madara said that his Mangekyo evolved into a Rinnegan, didn't he? So, I wouldn't be surprised if Sasuke evolves his Mangekyo into a Rinnegan too! Then he will be damn strong YAY XD. **

**Right. Back to the story. **

**Chapter 5**

"Sasuke, I sense him. Nearby," Kabuto informed Sasuke.

"Finally. How long I have waited for this day. Just wait, we will get fresh blood today. The blood of vengeance," Sasuke spoke to himself. Lately he was beginning to get murderous impulses often, just like a certain red-haired sand-wielding Kazekage.

But who could blame him? He was getting flashes of images in his mind's eye that served only to further aggravate him. His mother, father, on the ground, drenched in pools of their own blood. And there was his brother, standing above their dead bodies, katana in hand.

"Sasuke, calm down, it is not yet time for you to sate your bloodlust," Hinata commanded him quietly. It was quiet, and soft spoken, but it had the effect of a command on Sasuke. She always managed to calm him down, just as he managed to calm Juugo.

In less than two minutes, the entire team found itself running like never before towards Itachi's location. However, Karin sensed many chakras moving towards the same direction, causing her to halt the whole team.

"How many?" Hinata asked. They were used to it already. Every time Karin stopped them, they knew something was up. Trouble.

"Seven. Guess who?"

"I bet its our 'friends' who have been hunting us tirelessly for the past year? And why do I get a feeling it involves an orange idiot from the Leaf Village?" Sasuke snorted. Even though he didn't show it, everyone knew he was pissed. He was practically leaking killing intent, even with his tremendous self-control. If not for Itachi, the orange idiot would instead suffer Sasuke's wrath.

_A few miles away…_

"Guys, hurry up! We've got to get to Itachi, quick! If Itachi is there, it means Sasuke would be there not long after!" Naruto yelled to his teammates. He was answered by bursts of speed from his fellow ANBU mates, Hatake Kakashi, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, Sakura Haruno, Sai, and his own sensei, Jiraiya.

"I shouldn't be thinking this way, but I can't wait to see how much my little student has grown," Kakashi said, a sincere, fatherly smile gracing his lips, even though it was hidden by his mask.

Naruto growled dangerously.

"Geez, can't you show your ex-sensei some respect?" Kakashi grumbled.

"You _were_ my sensei. Now I am the team leader and you are my subordinate, so you will not say anything that offends me, understood?!" Naruto half-yelled back. He was still a fun-loving idiot, but when it came to Sasuke, Naruto was a jealous and insufferable bastard.

_Back to our lot…_

Juugo knew Sasuke was probably too exasperated to think calmly, so he took charge.

"Guys, lets move towards the Konoha shinobi, and prevent them from getting to Sasuke at any and all costs! Karin and Hinata take the left, Suigetsu and I will take the right. Kabuto is strong enough to hold his own against the strongest of their lot, so he can go alone. We need to buy Sasuke all the time he can get," Juugo said, with the confidence he got with the weight of responsibility on his shoulders.

Hinata and Karin dashed off to the left. On the way, Karin passed Hinata some of her poisoned kunai. Hinata gave her some water prison tags in return (You'll see what it does later). They soon ran into two Konoha shinobi. Sakura and Sai. This was gonna be a fun two-on-two.

Suigetsu and Juugo, meanwhile, had come across two other shinobi. They stood face to face with Kiba and Shino, two formidable opponents. Kakashi and Naruto were held up due to intrusion by a masked man who called himself Tobi. That left Kabuto up against Jiraiya.

**_Sakura and Sai vs Hinata and Karin_**

"H-hinata?! How are you here?" Sakura squeaked, so surprised that she forgot to sound disgusted.

"Both of us are part of Sasuke's gang," Karin informed Sakura. She openly smirked at the priceless expression on Sakura's face. Karin used to be cold towards Hinata, for stealing _her_ Sasuke, but she had soon outgrown her fangirl stage and warmed up to Hinata. They had become almost best of friends after that. They were the only girls in Hebi after all. If they couldn't turn to each other in times of need, then who _could_ they turn to? Only a woman can understand a woman's mind and feelings, after all.

"Oh? It seems someone's jealous?" Hinata threw in her two cents.

"Tch. I'll wipe you two out and convince Sasuke to make me a part of his team!" Sakura sneered back.

Both Karin and Hinata fell to the ground and rolled in laughter at hearing this. They were simply too tickled by this, it was so hilarious.

Here are the reasons. Number one: They were sure Sakura can NOT wipe out even a single one of them, even less both of them. Number two: Even if she did, Sasuke would NOT accept Sakura, rather he would have her mutilated and spit-roasted.

"If you two are done laughing, could we begin?" Sai chipped in, impassive as always.

And that's how they found themselves blasting the forest apart mere moments later. Hinata and Karin were breathing heavily, and Karin had a bleeding cut on her cheek. However, their condition was much better compared to Sakura's. She was bleeding heavily and clutching her overused right arm, which she had used multiple times to cause her mini-earthquakes. Which explained why the ground was so…_shattered_.

Sai was sweating buckets, and had a deep gash in his chest where Karin's poisoned kunai had cleaved a chunk of flesh. The poison had not taken effect…yet. He was otherwise unscathed, having used his paintings to protect him.

All four shinobi were low on chakra, and were intent on ending this quickly. Hinata's water meteor had just left a whole bunch of uprooted trees and sloppy mud in its wake.

Karin and Hinata came up with a quick plan to take their opponents down, one-by-one. Sai was not much of a threat, seeing as he would be down soon when the poison takes its toll.

Hinata fired a water cannon at Sakura which would have hit her squarely in the chest if she hadn't moved to her right. One of Hinata's ordinary exploding tags caused the water to disperse and form a thick veil of mist, blocking Sakura's sight. Sakura realised just in time that another one of Hinata's water cannons was heading her way, and shot upwards to avoid it. She grinned _She must have underestimated my senses and skills as a kunoichi. Hah! Here's Sakura for you!_

Meanwhile, Hinata's face adorned a smirk. She had NOT underestimated Sakura, which was why she sent two attacks in succession and put up a veil of mist to block her sight. Besides, she had prepared another present for Sakura… Sakura let out a yelp of pain as a kunai bit into her thigh, forcing her to the ground. She felt something latch onto her arm, and her eyes widened. _An exploding tag?_ The signs on the tag burned themselves onto her arm.

Immediately, an impenetrable water prison came into existence around her. Sakura was rendered immobile and called out for Sai to help her. Simultaneously, Sai fell to the ground in a crumpled and unconscious heap, owing to the poison. Karin stood triumphantly above Sakura and sucked her chakra nearly dry. She turned to Hinata and they bumped fists.

**_Shino and Kiba vs Juugo and Suigetsu_**

They had been fighting for a while now, but all four of them were still high on chakra. Shino was seemingly unscathed and Suigetsu didn't have a scratch on him. All four were top-class ninjas. Juugo as well as Kiba and Akamaru, had just been on a rampage just a while ago.

Juugo was double his normal size with his cursed seal all over his body. Suigetsu was more than happy to let him do as he pleased – it was required. Kiba and Akamaru were slightly panting, having just transformed back from their Human-Beast Combination Double Headed Wolf form. The effects of his military pill were beginning to wear off.

Shino summoned a giant wasp using his summoning jutsu to take care of both Juugo and Suigetsu while giving Kiba some time to rest. Suigetsu launched himself forward, sword in hand. _Water Slicer!_

His attack managed to take out a few of the wasp's limbs but he didn't notice Shino appearing behind him with his own sword made out of bugs. That earned him a large bleeding gash in his back. _Damn, that's gonna stay there for awhile. _

Juugo conjured up a huge explosive bird. He was secretly proud of this creation of his. Sasuke had passed on his knowledge about Deidara's style, which Juugo had incorporated into his own earth-based attacks.

The next moment saw a large scale-explosion that obliterated everything in its path. Hinata and Karin saw it from afar and smirked. _That's Juugo-nii for you!_ Naruto and Kakashi saw it too. _Shit! Kiba and Shino…we gotta finish this fight fast, but this masked bastard doesn't get hit by any of our attacks!_

When the smoke from the explosion cleared, Suigetsu saw clearly what Juugo's explosive had left in its wake. A dead big-ass wasp. However, two figures crouched afar, shielded by a thick layer of bugs which were slowly dropping dead to the ground. Kiba and Shino were unharmed, save for a few bleeding cuts here and there.

Suigetsu's jaw dropped open. Juugo only gazed with a hard expression. _These opponents are not to be taken lightly. _

_This is gonna be one helluva fight…_Suigetsu thought, before letting out an audible sigh and getting into his fighting stance.

**Phew. One more chapter down. Next chapter will be about Kabuto vs Jiraiya and Sasuke vs Itachi. Hope you liked this chapter. :) By the way, I recently read fanfics by some awesome writers, and found that they have great plots. I would like to recommend fanfics by Tendencies Wrath, Ink Child and Sacrowhunter. Awesome writers! **

**Pride: I might not be updating until late October as I have exams coming up . **

**Hinata: That's okay, Pride. As long as your results compensate for your absence. **

**Pride: *gulps* Now THAT…is a totally different story…**

**Karin: And better make sure the next chapter it tons better than this shitty one. Wait maybe its not so shitty since I finally got to be awesome in this chapter… Well back to the topic at hand…if you don't make sure the next chapter is better…*ka-shing* *****_brandishes a rusty scalpel*_**

**Till we meet again…**

**Yours truly, Pride.**


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